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150 TREES TO MARK CANADA 150

To commemorate Canada’s 150th sesquicentennial year, 150 trees will be planted throughout the district at various public places such as community centres and playgrounds. If you have any particular ideas for a special place or type of tree please contact me with your suggestions.

HISTORICA CANADA CONTEST

“Here’s My Canada” is a multilingual, nation-wide contest inviting Canadians to express what Canada means to them in a 30-second video. This is a project of Historica Canada and is a Canada 150 Signature Initiative.

For more details go to: www.heresmycanada.ca or #HERESMYCANADA. Show your civic pride! Download their free video-making app on the ‘App Store’ or ‘Google Play’ sites. Submissions must be in by August 31st. The winners will be announced on October 3rd.

311 CALL CENTRE HOURS CHANGE

Starting July 3rd HRM 311 Customer Contact Call Centre will be changing its hours of regular operation. The new hours will be from 8AM to 8PM Monday to Friday, and 9AM to 5:30PM Saturday and Sunday. After hours urgent service will be provided to cover all hours outside of these times when 311 representatives will not be available for full service. Customers can still obtain transit and garbage/recycling information by selecting the appropriate mailboxes after dialing 311 to listen to pre-recorded message selection options.

SOC FINAL REPORT TO HRSB

The Auburn Drive – Cole Harbour District High Family of Schools School Opportunities Committee has submitted its final report and recommendations. It can be viewed and downloaded at: www.auburn.ednet.ns.ca/wp/2017/06/16/soc-final-report-june-12/.

In terms of next steps, the SOC will present its report and recommendations to the Halifax Regional School Board (HRSB) in a public meeting on Wednesday, July 12th at 33 Spectacle Lake Drive in Burnside starting at 6PM. A Staff Technical Report will also be provided to the HRSB at this same meeting. The Staff Technical Report will be posted on the www.HRSB.ca web-site at least three days prior to the public meeting. No decisions will be made at this meeting. The HRSB will consider the recommendations, and it is anticipated they will be making decisions related to the school review at a public meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 30th.

PROPERTY TAX RELIEF PROGRAM

HRM can help homeowners pay their property tax through a payment plan, a property tax rebate, or deferral of taxes (payment is put off to a later date). These programs are available to all homeowners with a combined annual household income of $33,000 or less who live within the boundary of the municipality.

There are different programs to choose from depending on a person’s needs. It is important that you know what choices exist. There is a program booklet that lists the different types of programs, who can apply, and how to complete an application. Applications are now available until Dec. 31st. Do you qualify? If you have applied in previous years you should receive your application in the mail.

For more details about this program visit www.halifax.ca/taxes/exemption or call 311.

EVENTS & FESTIVALS GRANTS

HRM Administrative Order (AO 2014-021-GOV), Respecting Regional Special Events Grants establishes consistent and equitable funding for community and cultural events. There are four funding programs:

• Community Celebrations: $1,000 maximum
• Established Community Festivals: $25K max.
• Significant Anniversaries: $10,000 maximum
• Cultural Events & Showcases: $60,000 max.
This year’s grant awards for our own local Community & Festival Celebrations are:

Local Literacy & Storytelling Festival – $500
May 26th-28th – West Chezzetcook

Seacoast Trail Arts Assoc. Exhibition – $500
Aug. 20th – Sheet Harbour

Chezzetcook Christmas Tree Lighting – $500
Dec.10th – L’Acadie du Chezzetcook

Celebrate Taste of East Preston – S1,000
Canada Day – July 1st – East Preston

Lake Echo Boil & Blast Family Festival – $1,000
Sept. 23rd – Lake Echo

Acadian Festival – $1,500 – Aug. 13–19 – West Chezzetcook

Emerging Lens Independent Cultural Film Festival –
$2,000 April 2017 – NS Black Cultural Ctr & Halifax
Central Library

Afri-Fest Africa Festival of Arts & Culture – $2,500
July 21st – Halifax Waterfront

Lake N Shore Days – $4,750 – Aug. 2017 – Porters Lake

North Preston Days – $5,500 – July 15th – North Preston

Cole Harbour Harvest Festival – $6,500
Sept. 9th – Cole Harbour Place

Halifax County Exhibition – $25,000
Aug. 16th-19th Middle Musquodoboit

WEEKLY ORGANIC COLLECTION

Once again this year there will be weekly organic green cart collection for the summer months of July & August. For more details visit www.halifax.ca/recycle or call 311.

ESJEM CSR’s TRAINING SESSION

The Eastern Shore Joint Emergency Team (ESJEM) will be having a strategic planning session for its Community Status Reporters (CSR) on Sunday, July 9th from 2-4 PM at the Old School Gathering Place in Musquodoboit Harbour. For more information about becoming a CSR please visit  www.halifax.ca/emo/JEMSEasternShore.php

SOLAR COMMUNITY PROGRAM

The Provincial Government has introduced a Solar for Community Buildings Program that enables eligible community groups and organizations to generate solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity on their roofs or properties and sell it to their local utility under a 20-year contract. This is a pilot program run by the NS Department of Energy. The program’s goals are to support community participation in renewable energy generation and to learn more about how solar electricity can help Nova Scotia continue its clean energy transition.

Eligible groups and organizations are invited to submit an application for review. The application will include a proposed price for the electricity you generate back to the utility. You determine your price by first completing a workbook. The online workbook guides you through the calculations needed for your application.

Eligible organizations include Mi’kmaq bands, registered non-profit or charitable organizations, municipalities or organizations wholly owned by a municipality, universities or community colleges. The maximum size of project allowable under this program is 50 kW worth of panels. There is no minimum size. You can apply for this program for only one solar panel. This is a competitive process. An independent procurement administrator reviews all applications, but only those with the most competitive price per kWh will be accepted.

More information is available at www.NovaScotia.ca/solar or www.solarns.ca. You can also email questions to solarcommunitybuildings@novascotia.ca

HRM-NS LIDAR MAPPING PROJECT

In April 2015 the Government of Canada launched the National Disaster Mitigation Program (NDMP) with funding of $200 million over 5 years starting in 2015-2016. The NDMP addresses rising flood risks and costs and builds the foundation for future information mitigation
investments that could reduce, or even negate the effects of flood events. HRM will be partnering with the Province’s Emergency Management Office (EMO) to receive up to 50% of eligible cost-shared project expenditures to a maximum of $1,247,430 for the Coastal and Inland Flood Mapping Acquisition project.

The overall project consists of three parts which will be conducted in consecutive phases with a projected completion date of Spring 2019. The aforementioned award is for Part I of this project. LiDAR data will be collected by Geomatics Data Solutions. In Part 2, after LIDAR data processing, a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for the entire land mass and coastal areas of HRM will be created. In Part 3 HRM staff will develop coastal flooding vulnerability maps.

These maps will enable the prioritization and risk planning and response for communities and assets facing the highest risk of coastal flooding. The maps will also help HRM’s EMO and its Joint Emergency Management (JEM) teams to identify HRM communities vulnerable to the impacts of coastal flooding.

The Municipality’s project requires the collection of LiDAR data during “leaf-off” conditions to maximize data use for municipal purposes, including but not limited to a broad range of land-use planning applications, emergency management planning, flood plain and detailed watercourse and coastline mapping, open space assessment and land management, infrastructure planning, and solar energy site suitability assessments.

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